Best Business Ideas 2016

16 Awesome Business Ideas To Make You Rich Right Now

This article was originally published by AskMen UK — so don't mind the references to things like "pounds," "chaps" and "packets of crisps," whatever those are.

Have you been dreaming of becoming an entrepreneur but aren't quite sure which of your (many) great ideas to commit to? With more people looking to start a business than ever before – the number of under-35s starting businesses in the UK has risen by more than 70 percent since 2006 – you can't start flogging fake plastic Dracula teeth and expect to become a millionaire overnight.

We looked at Startups.co.uk's annual study to determine the top 16 business opportunities which are expected to take off over the coming year. Read on to find out where the biggest opportunities lie...

Gin

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First up is focusing a business around the resurgence of gin. No longer pigeon-holed as ‘Mother’s Ruin’, gin is now the drink of choice for many millennials (18-34 year olds are currently the most likely age group to drink it), with sales predicted to reach £1.3bn by 2020.

So if you know your spirits, a pop-up or permanent trendy gin bar offers a good opportunity for 2016. You could also create your own gin brand – offer a unique flavour, launch gin-related cocktails classes or tap into the growing demand for subscription services with an online gin club.

Fermented Foods

While the thought of fermented or ‘live’ food may not stun your salivary glands into action, Sauerkraut, kefir and kombucha will all be big news this year. Popular with celebrities like Madonna, fermented foods, after much popularity on the sidelines, are now going mainstream.

Easy enough to create, try making your very own fermented food or drink. Bio-tiful Dairy founder Natasha Bowes, who Startup interviewed for the study, suggests selecting a specific health benefit: “You would need to consider whether to solely focus on the prime benefits related to gut health and the immune system, to go down the currently popular ‘high in protein’ route, or to promote that fact that it is naturally low on lactose.”

Pottery

Britain’s pottery capital Stoke-on-Trent has had a major refit and the BBC2’s The Great Pottery Throw Down, has got the nation gripped by a taste for chinaware not seen since the 1970s. Whether it’s making and selling your own creations from a small studio in your garage (ceramics were a top home trend on Etsy last year) or running pottery classes from a café-with-a-twist, opportunities abound for creative types happy to get their hands dirty. Finally, artists can make a living. Maybe.

Become An Instapreneur

YouTube

As every millennial will know, brands are on the lookout for up and coming digital influencers to partner with. And the good news is – anyone can do it. Carve out a social media niche (fitness or baking for instance), build a decent following, and brands will flock. One of the keys to making it work is ensuring you have a consistent brand on the channel you're engaged with. If you're targeting Instagram, make sure your posts stick to a theme or aesthetic. If you're on YouTube, use consistent titling and camerawork.

Throw Your Own Music Festival

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There’s no denying Brits love their music festivals; two in five of us have been to a festival in the last 12 months and it’s the strongest growing sector of the leisure industry across the last five years. But there’s also been a shift and ‘alternative’ festivals (Smoked & Uncut? Leefest? Truck Festival? Shambala?) are where the demand lies for music lovers today, with plenty of niches to explore.

Women’s Sportswear

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Sweaty Betty? Lululemon? Sportswear sales were expected to exceed £6bn in the UK last year, Keynote research found. With rising sport and fitness participation levels, especially among women, starting your own women’s gym wear brand seems an increasingly good idea. As the US ‘athleisure’ trend really begins to take off, there’s a demand (and clear gap in the market) for fashionable and multi-use sportswear in the UK in 2016.

Posh Pet Food

Staggeringly, a fifth of UK cat and dog owners would cut back on their own food before reducing spending on their pets', according to a Mintel report (let's all collectively say, 'Awwww'). As our love for our animals reaches new heights, the trend for gourmet or ‘posh’ pet food continues to astound.

Fittech

Apple

Fitness technology is one of the world's latest obsessions. Whether it’s Fitbit or Strava, millennials track and analyse their workouts in the millions. The global digital health sector will double to £43bn by 2018 according to Monitor Deloitte, so if you’re a fitness fanatic with an app idea there’s room to mix with the big brands.

Natural and organic beauty

Consumers are demanding more transparency than ever, which is why natural and organic beauty products have been identified as a defining trend of the next decade by Mintel.

Great news for would-be-beauty entrepreneurs is that ‘kitchen beauty’ products (ones that look like they’ve been made at your kitchen table) are in high demand. You could also tap into the market with an organic beauty vlog or subscription service.

Gourmet burgers

Boom Burger

Alongside posh pet food – we’re also demanding more from our burgers. 52% of those who’ve eaten, or bought, burgers from fast-food restaurants in the past three months say they’d be interested in trying gourmet burgers, and existing gourmet burger chains are booming.

To get in on the market with your own brand or to start supplying cafés or restaurants, you’ll need a USP. You could look at using goat meat (Jamie Oliver’s ‘meat to watch’) or try vegan or specialist alternatives.

Edtech

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Another technology trend to capitalise on in 2016 is £45bn industry edtech (you guessed it, using technology to improve education). With a new government body and significant investor activity, “Edtech has come of age” according to EdTech UK CEO Ian Fordham.

While there are 1,000 businesses in the space, demand is only set to increase so if you move quickly there’s still time to make waves. Find a relatively untapped segment, like targeting teachers or younger learners.

Online Watch Shop

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Although watches are not a new phenomenon, they have changed considerably in their half-a-millennia history. And thanks to smartwatches and a renewed favour for watches as a fashion accessory (one in four Brits use them as an accessory rather than to tell time), the recently stagnant watch market has begun to grow again, especially online.

Activity bar

Millennials are a demanding bunch. No longer satisfied with mere booze, they’re looking for something a little extraordinary. Bars that have something extra – like ping pong, bowling or Topgolf – are booming.

“New entrants to the market are launching enticing new propositions to consumers – and shaking up the traditional market considerably,” say business advisers BDO. As traditional pubs continue to close down at an alarming rate, starting a bar with an activity element is a sure fire way to stand out in 2016.

Fitness franchise

The third fitness-related idea in the list (are humans finally getting healthy?), this time it’s franchising. Offering a less-risky business opportunity (franchises have a 15% higher five-year survival rate than start-ups) – it’s a popular way to start a business, contributing £15.1bn to the economy last year, up 46% on the previous 12 months.

With fitness franchises exploding in the UK right now, from long-running established names to brand new franchises and a whole range of verticals, you’ll be spoilt for choice.

Venue booking platform

Central Working, Shoreditch

While we’ve become increasingly used to renting out people’s homes for holidays, Mintel noted that entrepreneurs are now seeking to “maximise the usage and availability of temporary, transient space for storage, parking, working and sleeping”.

Whether it’s alternative meeting rooms or quirky event venues, creating a sharing platform that curates and showcases unutilised spaces will let you tap into the burgeoning ‘Airbnb for X’ market.

Smart products

Nest

It’s time for products to get smart – or even smarter. The future where your fridge could re-order dwindling supplies is NOW. Take a look on Kickstarter and you’ll see connected products to blow your mind.

Fuelled by Internet of Things technology, we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what smart products can do, particularly at the consumer end of the market – making this year the perfect time to launch a product company with a difference.